The Cathedral and the Bazaar:
Musings on Linux and Open Source
Revised Edition
by Eric S. Raymond
O'Reilly, 2001
241 pages

review by Ken Dyke

This is a collection of a number of essays written by esr concerning
hacker culture (traditional definition of "hacker") and the open
source development model.

The origins of hacker culture are traced in "A Brief History of Hackerdom".
The various threads that have woven together to become today's FOSS
movement are described.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar describes the dynamics of the open source
development model. Using the author's fetchmail project as a case
study. It was this essay that proposed "given enough eyeballs, all bugs
are shallow".

Homesteading the Noosphere explores the day to day customs as practiced
by members of this culture.

The Magic Cauldron lets some air out of myths regarding software
development. Then proposes nine models for sustainable, stable open
source project development.

esr then looks to the future in The Revenge of the Hackers.

Conclusion: This is not required reading but it does provide a lot
of background on how we got to where we are today and why it matters.